ITAMMA’s legacy of 75 years continue with next generation

The Indian Textile Accessories and Machinery Manufacturers’ Association (ITAMMA) proudly declared its milestone of successfully completing 75 years of providing service to the Indian textile industry in one of its historic event on January 31, 2018. This milestone was celebrated by paying a tribute to BK Mehta who was one of the most hardworking and inspiring past-presidents of the association. BK Mehta’s contribution was commemorated by releasing a special documentary film “Balbhai” based on his life and work.

The year subsequent to the announcement made, witnessed a lot of growth in the association. The aim was to achieve better results in the future for which several training programmes were introduced for the members of the association. The members were essentially trained for technological up gradation, operational excellence, and sustainable manufacturing among others.

The association takes pride in recognising the work of its founder fathers and past members such as Bhogilal H Patel, and others the generous devotees for providing ITAMMA with its own premises, BK Mehta, founder of “BK Mehta Endowment Fund,” JG Roy, founder of “JG Roy Endowment Fund” and another noteworthy member Hansaben Mehta, President of NASEOH who has financially strengthened the BK Mehta Endowment Fund.

The committee decided to organise celebrations at Ahmedabad on January 12, 2019, at Mumbai on January 17, 2019 and Coimbatore on January 25, 2019.

The celebrations at Ahmedabad were organised at Rajuwada Restaurant inviting Kamal Singh, Director, MSME Development Institute, Ahmedabad as the Chief Guest while Dr Jaimin R Vasa, Sr. Vice-President, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & industry, Ahmedabad as the Guest of Honour.

Those at Coimbatore were organised at Hotel Residency Towers, inviting Dr KV Srinivasan, Managing Director, Premier Mills Pvt Ltd, Coimbatore as the Chief Guest and V Lakshminarayanasamy, President, The Indian Chamber of Commerce, Coimbatore as the Guest of Honour.

Between the two events, the main event was organised on at ITC Grand Maratha Hotel, Mumbai of the January 17. This event was graciously honoured by the presence of TCA Ranganathan, Retired Chairman EXIM Bank and Ninad Karpe, incoming Chairman Western Region, CII. In the pre-event session all the past presidents of ITAMMA were felicitated with a Platinum Jubilee Memento and were assembled for a group photo.

The event was started by a hearty welcome speech delivered by Kaizar Z Mahuwala, President, ITAMMA. While mentioning about its foundation the President highlighted the changing role of the Association.

The speech was followed by the launch of the “Commemorative-film” which highlighted “ITAMMA - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (giving the insight on the contribution of ITAMMA as ‘One Voice’ to the Indian textile engineering industry during its journey of 75 years and its roadmap for achieving its vision. The event was also graced by the felicitations of Narendra L Shah and R Anand with ‘Lifetime Achievement Awards.’

It was followed by the release of the Coffee Table Book, which covered literature of origins of textiles, Kadhi and Handloom, embedded with various historical contributions to the handloom industry and the Platinum Jubilee Souvenir (with a special emphasise on next-gen manufacturing) with the hands of Hansaben Mehta.

This was followed by the speech by the Guest of Honour Ninad Karpe, where he utilised his time by showing a PowerPoint Presentation, which with various real-life instances he showcased how important technological advancement is. One such example was of a taxi driver who had posted a video of himself on YouTube along with his contact details by using no extra gadget other than his smart phone.

While mentioning the importance of the milestone he emphasised on the other reasons that they have to celebrate. While giving statistics of various countries he highlighted the fact that in nowhere is there such a high dominance of one sector in manufacturing as the textile industry in India which accounts for almost half of the share. The textile industry is active in exporting the manufactured goods too.

Ranganathan also stressed the importance of working in groups and developing in cohorts instead of individualistic progress. The fact that every sector sees something differently should be taken advantage of and every such sector should work simultaneously. The Chief Guest ended his speech with a positive note saying that India is a great alternative for other countries to depend upon. To beat the other countries in this race the only thing one needs to inculcate is the habit of working together as a team.

The function was concluded with the vote of thanks by Jugal Kishore Pansari, Vice President, ITAMMA where he mentioned that today is the day when we remember our illustrious, visionary and generous founders and elders who have laid a solid foundation for the association with their dedication, vision and generous endowments. It is a result of their leadership and blessings that ITAMMA has today being recognised as

the largest and the oldest textile engineering association in the world. Apart from felicitating and appreciating the member organisations efforts, it becomes our moral duty not only to sustain these assets but also to accelerate them by utilising all means of smart manufacturing technologies as available today in this competitive and innovative world. And I am confident that ITAMMA’s Youth Wing will bring this vision true when we have the centenary function celebration 25 years from now.